The homeowner in Aina Haina who had a short but scary encounter recently with what is estimated to be at least a 150-pound wild pig has got people wondering who you’re going to call if you are faced with a similar situation.

KHON 2 news turned to the professionals, the people with the Oahu Pig Hunters Association, who are called upon to trap wild pigs as a free public service.

Mitchell Tynanes, a vice president with the Oahu Pig Hunters Association, took KHON2 to the hills above Kaneohe, and he showed how the hunters use a simple but effective trap, using loaves of old bread and fermented corn as bait.

“They will walk around the trap, and they will trip this wire, and the door will shut, “explained Tynanes. “Then you got some pigs. Simple, but effective.”

In the year that Tyananes has been with the Oahu Pig Hunters Association, his group has caught some 200 pigs – all over the island – including in East Honolulu, where the latest encounter occurred in Aina Haina. The area is close to where the wild pigs call home. If pigs are in search of water, or food, or if they just want to get away from hunters, they will come down the mountain to where the people live.

If you’re caught in a situation similar to what happened in Aina Haina, people will call on the government, and that’s the Department of Land and Natural Resources, its Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

More often than not, they will call on the Oahu Pig Hunter’s Association, and they are well equipped to deal with the situation by using a box trap.

KHON 2 News asked as more homes are built close to hillsides -will these encounters become more common.

Tynanes answered, “I would say yes, if the house is next to a mountain, yes.”

KHON2 asked, “What’s your advice to people?”

Tynanes said, “Man – don’t deal with the pig, try to back away as best as you can, and call people who can help you.“

And when they do come to help – the hunters are not allowed to use a gun in a residential neighborhood.

A trap is the only way to catch the pig – and they will cart it away for you.

Call the President of the Oahu Pig Hunters Association, Ollie Lunasco, at (808) 330-7788, or vice presidents Miles Fukushima at (808) 295-3312, and Mitchell Tynanes at (808) 864-2977, or log onto www.phaoahu.org/.